Come get your cat spayed in Dagenham!

As some of you know, for the last two years I have been a proud member of MMTG (Maltby Musical Theatre Group) and have thoroughly enjoyed performing as Hugh in 'Acorn Antiques' and last year I got to play my absolute dream roll as Sir Robin in 'Spamalot.' It has been an absolute blast and I cannot believe I left it so late on to get into this. It's not an understatement when I say that it has changed my life.

In years gone by, I was the front man of a band called 'Silver Head', playing both covers and originals. Due to changes in our home life's, however, we had to call it a day a few years ago, and I've missed performing since then. So being back on stage, albeit in a different way, is fantastic.

This year, the show we will be performing 'Made in Dagenham.' The show won't be on until next March, and proper rehearsals don't start until September, so currently we're working through audition pieces, with auditions themselves being next week. I'm going for the roll of Eddie this year, which is the lead male roll. After last year as Sir Robin, I feel like I should push myself to do more and improve both my singing and acting. While I had plenty to do last year, this year the acting is a little (ok, a lot) less silly, and so I think it'll be harder to do right.

I've got one song to learn, as well as a few lines of dialogue to perform as part of my audition. I'm a little bit nervous as there is a decent amount of competition for the part, though not quite to the extent that the women have to put up with. The song I'll be singing is called 'The Letter' (look it up on YouTube if you're interested) and is a fun song to sing, starting off soft but working its way up until eventually its pure frustration. There is so much emotion to convey, and I'm determined to get that across in the audition. I've got breathing and vocal excercises to be cracking on with too to make sure I can reach all the notes (only a couple I'm finding difficult) and I'm really working hard at this one.

Hopefully next week goes ok, I'll obviously post when I find out. Until then, you'll have to wait with baited breath to find out how it goes/went.

As ever, thanks for stopping by.

Getting back into blogging

So, a thought occured to me a few days ago. I spend a lot of time online, reading blogs, and watching YouTube. Now, I've had this blog and others, as well as my Tumblr, for quite a while but they sort of get used for a bit and then fall by the wayside. The thing is, really enjoy writing. I just manage to convince myself that I have nothing of interest to say, but turns out I do. I'm in musical theatre now, and I play games and read books and comics. I'm a parent and enjoy doing other things too, so i have plenty to say. 

So, this is me getting back into blogging. I'm not going to try and push myself too much, so I'll say one post a week for now. As and when I feel I can commit to more, I'll up that. 

So, expect my first post in the next couple of days. It'll probably be a general thought dump of the audition process I'm currently in the middle of for the next show we're doing, 'Made in Dagenham'.

So, if you're reading this, then thank you for taking the time. I hope you'll stick around, and see where this goes.

Thanks for stopping by!

'Tis but a scratch!

So, you know how I said my warband was finished? Well...it was. Then my Knight miniature turned up and now I've got something else to paint!

I've decided to use 'The Black Knight' from Monty Pythons 'The Holy Grail' as my knight and, as you can see, he comes as two models, the regular figure and the dismembered version. 

Looking forward to painting him up!

Complete Warband!

So, with the completion of my apprentice, my warband is, for now, complete! Here is a quick picture of the whole gang :)

Pondering No More!

I finally finished painting my apprentice! I'm quite happy with the end result, and can't wait to get him next to the rest of my warband for a picture! That, unfortunately, will have to wait until tomorrow as the light will be gone by the time I finish work!

Thanks for stopping by!

Complete Wizard!

So, after finishing my Warhound model off (the Luggage from Terry Pratchets 'Discworld' series) I've found myself full of excitement and inspiration to carry on painting my warband to completion.

I was trying to decide what to paint next, my wizard model (Bursar) or my apprentice one (Ponder Stibbons). Decided I wasn't sure how I was going to paint my apprentice yet, so went with my wizard. 

This was the first time I've done any proper layering while painting, and I think I've done a half decent job, especially on his cloak.

All the red parts took me about an hour/hour and a half in total, with everything else taking another hour. So all in all, not a long project, but I was determined to get him looking good. I added a little detail to the front and then painted to wonky eyes, which I have to say, I love.

And that's that. Only 1 model to go now until they're all finished...for now.

Thanks for stopping by!

My Warhound is finished!

I had a rare morning off work today and decided to finally paint the model I'm using as my Warhound in my Frostgrave War Band. Rather than an actual dog, I'm using the Luggage from the Discworld series. I think I did a decent paint job on what is quite frankly a beautiful model. I've been terrified of starting it, because of the amount of flesh needed for the legs. I've only recently started painting flesh, having only previously painted robotic miniatures. 

I'm happy with the end result anyway, can't wait to get him on a table along with the rest of my gang!

Thanks for stopping by!

That's the soldiers finished!

So, this morning I finally finished painting my soldiers for my Frostgrave Warband. Below is a picture of the gang all together! Next step is to paint my Warhound, apprentice and wizard! Looking forward to cracking on with them now!

Gaming table construction!

So, recently I tidied and organised my would be dining room and decorated and displayed things to turn it into my new 'Geek Den'. This went down well the next time I was hosting my D&D group, as it saved us all huddling around the coffee table. However, as I'm sure you are all aware, there is always that itch to improve. So, with that in mind, I took to the internet to see how much one would cost to buy/build. The designs I found were all a bit more complex than what I was looking for and to buy one was completely out of the question. So, I sat and thought things out and, with a little help from my fellow geek Mike, I came up with the basic design for my table. Below is the step by step of how I built it and a cost up too.

Step 1

First off, get yourself 2 MDF boards. I got 3/4" thick, but to be honest I think 1/2" would do it too. I used 38"x62". Mark up on one of these where you are going to cut out. I wanted a 2'x4' gap in the middle, leaving a 7" border. I put dice trays and cup slots around the edge, but these are just extras and not needed really (unless you've got badass taste).

Step 2

Now for the scary part (unless you're actually good with tools). I drilled holes in order to get the jigsaw in and then cut out everywhere I marked up. There are better ways to cut circles than what I did, which was to do it by hand with the jigsaw. I cut the corners here too, to round them off (Screw the two boards together and cut the corners together to make sure they match up). Once they are all cut out, you can lay it on top of the bottom piece, just to get an idea of how it will look and get all excited like a little girl (like I did).

Step 3

This is the tidying up step. Now is the time to sand all the edges and sides to smooth them off and check, double check and then triple check that 2 2x2 boards will fit in the gap. Make sure everything is as you want it now, as next its all cosmetic!

Step 4

Now that it's all cut and ready, its time to seal it. Not 100% if you need to do this, but I felt better knowing it was done. Plus it works nicely as a primer for what comes next; the paint!

I used a Satin black car spray from Halfords, but really you can use whatever you want to paint it. Whatever you chose, you'll want to paint about 4" or 5" in from the edge on the bottom layer, and then all the edges and all the top layer. Then, once this is dry, staple some felt to the bottom layer. I went with red. We are nearly done.

Step 5

I used red mouse mats to cushion the dice trays. I stapled them to the bottom of the top layer, to keep them in position. Once all these are on, its a case of screwing both boards together. I used 1.25" screws, screwing from the bottom to keep the top border nice and clean. I used spare bits from the cut up mouse mats to pad the drinks slots and then printed and laminated some bits just to decorate them a bit more (I have different D&D phrases written in Gallifreyan)

And that, my friends, is it. You now have a pretty awesome gaming table. I just use an occasional table that folds away to place it on top of, but you can always attach legs of whatever and keep it up permanently. 

Expenses

- Wood = £35

- Felt = £4.57

- Mouse mats = £11.94

- Spray paint = £7.99

- PVA sealant = £5.99

Total cost = £65.49

Mine cost me slightly more, but that's because I paid delivery for the wood, and had to buy some tools, or bits for tools. Even with those added on though, still well under £100

Enjoy guys!

More progress

Between work and my, admittedly limited, social life, I haven't done much hobbying recently. So, after getting home at nearly 11pm last night, I decided to crack on and finish another couple of guys. Here are the four I have finished for my warband.

Soon be time to paint my wizard!

Thanks for stopping by!

Getting some work done!

So, I was recently introduced to Frostgrave (thanks Mike and Pete) and I have to say, I love it! Such a simple system, but so much fun to play.

So I've built up a war band and have started painting them. Here's a picture of the first 2 I've finished, a thief and a thug. 

As you can see, the war band colour is Red, as my wizard is a flame throwing elementalist! Looking forward to painting some more over the next few days, hoping to have the majority done by the end of next week.

Thanks for stopping by!

Frostgrave Progress!

So, I had my second game of Frostgrave on Sunday night. I'm really enjoying this system, so easy to play and very fun! 

This time I played against Mike and his Necromancer band. We both suffered quite a few casualties, though Mikes dead pile was considerably more expensive than my own. We played 'The worm hunter' mission and with the worm eventually turning up 2 turns before we finished, my ranger killed it, earning my wizard an extra 100xp. Going up 4 levels this time, my wizard is now a mighty level 7. He managed to kill Mikes wizard, the same as Petes (sorry, not sorry).

I can't wait to get finished painting my models, and start trying new units. Unfortunately, I didn't think to take any pictures, which is a shame as the table Mike prepared was pretty magnificent, and his stuff always looks nice when painted.

Introducing the Terrifying, the Stupendous, the Amazing Spider-Man!

So early this week I posted about the first project I've embarked on over a year! It's the Marvel Knight Amazing Spider-Man, and I've had a load of fun painting it. 

I'll not bore you with the details, but it is such a lovely model! A few issues with the amount of flash on it, and some of sockets didn't line up properly. The spider emblem on his chest isn't as defined as it could be, making it near impossible to pick out with paint. Other than that though, it's beautiful! So, here are the pictures! Hope you like it guys!

My second project!

So, as well as my Spider-Man figure, I'm also going to be working on my blood bowl team. I've never played but always wanted to, and a friend of mine (cheers Mike!) donated this Vampire team to me.

So, they are all based and under coated and I'll be starting work on them some time this week. I'm thinking for team colours, I might go with a green and silver theme (think Slytherin Quidditch team and you've got it).

Stay tuned!

First project in a long time!

So, I'm just getting back into hobbling in general. Decided to finally start work again, and what better way to get back into painting than by working on my Marvel Knights Spider-Man figure. It's been sat in my to do box for a year now, so I'm glad to finally be getting around to doing it!

The figure itself is really nice, but it had quite a lot of flash to sort out. It was a bit of a pain to glue together too, to the point I nearly pined it. But it's held and I've had no issues since.

So now it's sat, under coated ready for me to paint. I'll be doing a bit tonight so maybe a post will go up tomorrow. 

Stay tuned guys!

Fresh start

So, it's been a while since I've posted on here. A lot has happened in a relatively short space of time. So, here's what I'm doing now.

I have moved house, and have created a new space for myself. I have christened it 'The Geek Den' and I'm using it for all manner of things. I've got a desk set up for my paint station, a fold away table that's almost perfect for gaming, a nice stereo system and bookshelves aplenty to display all my Doctor Who stuff. There are a couple of picture below. It is a work in progress but I'm very happy with the progress so far! Now that I have a space to paint, I'd best get some done! See future posts for my current projects!

Getting down with the lingo y'all!

Why, hello there Internet, it's good to see you again. Me? I'm Josh...from before? You know me! I spent hella' (a lot of) time on you in my teenage years, editing and re-editing my Myspace page, logging in and out of my MSN account to get that one person to notice I was there and downloading music via Limewire. It was like a completely different world.

This thought occurred to me the other day as I was getting the skinny (getting to know) on my fellow History freshers. They are all 18 or 19 years old, which I expected as that is, after all, the normal age to attend university. What I did not anticipate, however, was the fact that I am not "with it" anymore. I don't recognise any of the bands being discussed, I have less than 100 photos on Instagram, I'm not up to date on conspiracy theories (apparently they are all the rage now, or 'on trend' as the cool kids say) or political views and I don't understand a lot of the language.

Now, don't get me wrong. This isn't an "Oh, I'm old and feel sorry for myself" post. It's just that I have always thought I was still quite up to date with the kids of today (Jesus, did I really use that phrase?). With me starting university in less than 4 weeks, it did get me a little nervous, as it can be quite hard to blend in when you aren't sure if your classmates are talking about a new band or an unfortunate viral infection (also equally likely to be a band name to be honest). I was worried that I would be sussed out and identified as the fraud I am. University is a daunting prospect no matter what age you are, so the added worry of the age difference has had me, well, worrying.

But then I thought to myself...is it important? I mean, yes, I am 7 or 8 years older than the rest of my classmates, and there will be a generation difference. That said, it's just one more problem that can be overcome. I am still pretty witty and, thinking about it, I'm not actually that old. Sure, I might not have any SWAG's to speak of, and my use of modern lingo might be a little whack, but I'm sure I'll get by. It's just something else to learn over the next few years, right?

So, here's my message to all the 18 and 19 year olds who are getting ready for what comes next, be it university, work or anything else. It will always be scary, it will always be daunting and you will always doubt yourself and consider backing out. My advice? Stick with it. If everything in life was easy, nothing would have meaning. The things that seem hardest are usually the things that shape you as a person and prepare you for the rest of your life.

So, tie those High Tops, wear that cap Ash Ketchum style and strike your best 'start of an epic adventure' pose, because it most certainly will be.

See you on the other side!

Geronimo!!!

Since I've been gone

Hello dearest Internet. You're right, it has been a while since I last walked your dark and questionable depths. I bet you have been driving yourself crazy, guessing at what could possibly have kept me away for so long. What? You didn't even notice I was gone? Oh...well I've already put together a report e planning what I've been up to, and I'll be dammed if a little thing like zero interest is going to stop me from posting it on the Internet! So sit down, shut up and read.

Since finishing college, I've been enjoying plenty of quality time with Alfie. This has comprised of countless walks in the park, endless hours on swings, plentiful time playing football and many hours more than anyone ever need be subjected to CBeebies. It has, in short, been fantastic. The one downside, if you can cal it that, is that I have had very little time for anything else. 

The time I have had spare has been spent digging up the back garden. With the decking all but completed, my sole mission now is to finish the digging and get the nice new turf down to finish it off. Once this has been done, it's goodbye spade and hello BBQ utensils. 

As if this wasn't good enough reason for my lack of posts, I'm also currently on holiday. Myself, Donna and Alfie, along with the In-Laws, have just spent the weekend in Devon and have now travelled down to Cornwall (Newquay to be precise) for the remainder of the week. The weather has been great and, among everything else, me and Alfie have spent plenty of time soaking up the sun in the pool. 

All this means that I have done hardly any painting recently. When I say hardly any, I mean it's so minute an amount that, to the naked eye, it looks as though I haven't done any. In fact, there are some who would say that I HAVEN'T done any, and to these people I say...shhh, don't tell anyone. Once I'm back home, however, I shall be back at the paint table. I am quite looking forward to painting my 11th Doctors, Ice Warriors and Amy Pond.

Until then, keep it real guys!

Catch you on the flip side!

J-Fuzz out!

2nd Doctor Paint Report

Hi guys,

So, I finally got around to painting my 2nd Doctor figure (that's the Patrick Troughton one, if you were wondering). I have to say, I am rather satisfied with the end result, especially when taking into consideration that I haven't painted for around 2 years. So, below is a step by step walkthrough of the painting process, showing the model at various stages and the colours I used to paint it.

A little bit of info on supplies

The model in question today was purchased from Black Tree Design. Go visit them for a range of great figures, or click here to go straight to this figure. Great value for money and the model quality is excellent.

Paint wise, I generally use Citadel paints. I always post pics and the names of paints I've used, and if it's not Citadel, I'll mention where it's from.

Step 1: Undercoat

 

The first thing I did when getting ready to paint the figure was to undercoat it using Chaos Black spray. The picture above shows both my Troughton figure and a Time Lord president figure, a future project that I decided to undercoat at the same time. Make sure to get a nice even layer, don't spray for too long in one place or you will lose detail on your figure.

Step 2: Skin

Once the undercoat had dried, I decided to paint the fleshy areas on the model (the face and hands). I haven't had to paint flesh in a long long time, so I was a little nervous. I opted to use a mix of Tallarn Flesh and Ceramic White, going with about half and half for the tone I wanted. Once I had got the areas needed, I touched the edges back up with Chaos Black so I could see where I was easier.

Step 3: The Shirt

Next, I decided to paint the shirt, as it was in an awkward position and would be easier to paint before the stuff in the way was done. Once again, I used a mix to get the right colour, this time of Ice Blue and Ceramic White. Fairly straight forward again, just neatening up edges once I had finished the shirt. At this stage, I also painted the bowtie, using Mechrite Red.

Step 4: The Hair

For the hair, I didn't want to go too light, as Troughton had very dark brown hair when playing The Doctor. I went with a mix of Calthan Brown' and Chaos Black at first, mixing it very dark. Once that had gone on, I mixed a slightly lighter shade and gave his mop a quick dry brush to add a bit of accent. After it had dried, I used a quick wash of Ogryn Flesh just to darken it back down a little. The picture doesn't show it very well here, but it looks good in person.

Step 5: The Jacket

With the jacket, I had a choice to make. Do I leave it black and go 'early' Troughton, or go for a dark blue and go 'end of era' Troughton? I decided to go end of era, as the shirt I had given him and the bowtie are both more towards the end of his run. I mixed up a lovely dark blue, using Midnight Blue and Chaos Black, mixing it so that it was nearly a hint of blue. It was at this stage that I also realised that I had not painted the shirt cuffs earlier, mistaking them for part of the jacket. I painted these too, using the same mix as earlier. I also painted the recorder and pocket handkerchief too, finishing off everything for the top half. For the recorder, I used Ceramic White and for the handkerchief I used Mechrite Red. I added the blue stripes to the recorder later, using Enchanted Blue.

Step 6: The Trousers

This was the section I was most worried about, due to the detail present in the trousers for this Doctors costume. However, it ended up being fairly straight forward in the end. First, I mixed a medium grey up from Chaos Black and Ceramic White. I used this to paint the whole of the trousers, giving them a solid grey foundation. I then mixed the grey a little darker, adding more black to knock it down a few shades. I used this to paint the vertical stripes down the trousers. I then mixed it even darker (nearly plain black by this point) and used that to paint the horizontal stripes. Once this was done, I mixed the grey back up to the original base coat, and gave the trousers a very very VERY light dry brush, just to blend it a little better. Don't go too heavy with this part, or you will lose the detail you just painted on, and will have to do it all again.

Step 7: Finishing Touches

By this point, I was pretty much done. I used Calthan Brown to paint the shoes, and then just checked over the model for any erroneous paint, touching up odd bits here and there until I was happy.

Step 8: Washing

The last thing I like to do is to wash the model. Some people aren't fans of washes, but I personally quite like them and think they add a nice finish, when used correctly. I applied a wash of Guilliman Blue to the jacket and shirt, Ogryn Flesh to the hands and face and, once those two had dried, a light wash over the entire model using Badab Black.

Once I had let the washes dry, I just added a few highlights to certain areas, just to sharpen it back up a little. I added a little bit of Ice Blue around the cuffs and shirt collar, and some Tallarn Flesh to the raised areas on the face and along the fingers. Doing this gives the shadows created from washing a bit of a better contrast.

Now that the model was finished, I was done. I've added sand to my base, awaiting a decision as to how I'm painting it. I will probably go with a grey, maybe add some road markings in too.

So, there you have it. One finished 2nd Doctor figure. I hope you found this walkthrough useful and have fun with your own painting. If you have any questions or comments or even suggestions for me, feel free to comment below.

Thanks guys,

J-Fuzz out

The End is Here!!

I'm finished! It's done, it's over, it's ended.

I'm talking about college, of course. That's right guys, today I finished my final exam and that concludes my time at Rotherham College. It has been a fantastic year, and I have learnt a lot of things, both about the subjects I've been studying and about myself. If nothing else, it has shown me, after years of doubt, that I am capable of persuing education further. 

I have met some...interesting people in my short time here (I can't believe it's only been 9 months!) and I will stay in contact with some now that we've finished! At the start of the year I was out of my comfort zone as I, generally, try to avoid contact with people. However, as the year has gone on, I have become better at feigning interest and displaying the correct emotion. That's a win in my book!

I have achieved, so far, a near perfect run of top grades, with the final few assignments awaiting grading now. Hopefully, I should find out the results within the next week or so. I have developed a good study habit and feel I am well prepared for the future. Until then though, it's time to relax, do some recreational reading, catch up on some painting and watch some Doctor Who.

What about after the Summer though, I hear you asking with barely contained interest? Well, it's off to uni for me (The University of Sheffield, to be specific) to study history. I'm a little nervous, but am confident that I will continue to grow and improve both as a student and a person.

It's a bit of a bland post, I know, but it's a big deal for me. Today marks the end of this stage in my life. Here's to the future!

Keep it real guys,

J-Fuzz out!